Bulletin Number Three 1985

Department of Marketing and International Business Entering the 1980s, the role of Hong Kong in the economic development of China and the Asian- Pacific Region has become more and more significant. This has created a tremendous demand for well-trained executives in the field of Marketing and International Business. Besides, the increasing demand in China for executive development programmes in Management and International Business has put Hong Kong in the spotlight as one of the important training centres for executive management in the Asian- Pacific Region. To cope with the changing role of Hong Kong in business management education, the Department of Marketing and International Business has set forth three major objectives for the 1980s. The first objective is to develop knowledgeable, socially responsible and effective administrators as well as executives for business, governmental and other institutions. The second is to provide well-qualified teachers in the field of Marketing and International Business for institutions of higher education in this region. And the third is to offer executive development programmes in Marketing and International Business for business executives from both the local community and China. To achieve the first objective, the Department has revised its courses, classifying them into 'professional' and 'advanced' courses. 'Professional' courses aim at providing students with a general but comprehensive background of the subject area. 'Advanced' courses provide more specialized and in-depth knowledge of specific areas. In addition, the Department, jointly with the MBA Division, launche d a specialized MBA programme in Marketing and International Business in September 1984. To achieve the second objective, a research-oriented Ph.D. programme in Marketing and International Business has been scheduled for the academic year 1985-86. As for training programmes for managers from China, the Department has been conducting a training course in Marketing Management for managers of the Ministry of Machine-Building Industry since 1981. About sixty managers of the Ministry from various provinces of China spend four months at the University for executive training each year. A similar training course will be held in the summer of 1985 for the executives of the Ministry of Metallurgical Industry an d the Province of Liaoning, and about sixty executives will participate in this course. Undergraduates of the Department are required to take some basic business courses offered by other Departments of the Business Administration Faculty in their first year. This is to give students a good foundation in Business Administration before they proceed to the functional topics in Marketing or the more sophisticated topics in International Business. Core courses for second-year students include Marketing Management, Marketing Research and Introduction to International Business. Professional as well as advanced courses offered to Marketing majors include Advertising, Sales Management and Salesmanship, Service Marketing, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Policy, Marketing Theory, and Quantitative Marketing Decisions, etc. Courses offered to International Business majors include Import- Export Business, International Market Analysis, International Marketing Management, International Financial Management, Managing in the Multinational Corporation, Comparative Management Systems, China's Foreign Business Operations, and Seminar in China's Management, etc. The scope and magnitude of research and publications by faculty members of the Department continues to grow. The major areas of research can be grouped under the following general headings: Competitive Strategies for International Business, China's Enterprise and Management, Marketing Information Systems in the Third World, and Transfer of Marketing Technologies into less developed countries. In order to avail students as well as faculty members of the experience of overseas scholars, the Department places special emphasis on inviting visiting professors and scholars to teach on campus each year. On the list of visiting scholars for the past three years are Professor Kenneth Simmonds and Mr. Philip Law of the London School of Business, Professor N.T. Wang of Columbia University, Professor Michael J. Baker of the University of Strathclyde, and Dr. Charles Keown of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. In addition, the Department will host an international academic conference in July 1985 for members of the Academy of International Business and other scholars and researchers in the field of International Business. With regard to the career destination of the graduates over the past four years, a survey conducted by the Appointments Service reveals that over eighty percent of the graduates join the commerce and industry sectors, where banking industry is the most popular field followed by marketing. —K.C. Mun 8 RECENT DEVELOPMENTS